This summer, by way of a change, instead of heading to the beaches we spent a few days in the mountains hiking. Although the weather was mostly miserable, unfortunately, we did enjoy an abundance of crisp fresh air, fabulous food and way too much healthy exercise.

Having had an excruciating trip from Paris to the Alps – heavy traffic, rain and then snow – we decided we’d do the return journey in two parts stopping on the outskirts of Macon. We stayed at the delightful Hostellerie La Sarrasine in Replonges a traditional Bourgogne structure with great fireplaces, roaring fires and typical Bourgogne dinner fare – L’escargot drenched in garlic butter followed by a most succulent Poulet-Bresse – perfect.

On the front lawn, taking centre stage they had fenced a gazebo and moved their two sheep in for the winter.

The next morning we were up early. You can’t go to Bourgogne and not bring some wine home – well I can’t. So we meandered through the Macon and Beaujolais countryside doing a bit of wine tasting in the area and collected a few of cases of wine for the cellar back home in Paris. Well generally they don’t stay in the cellar very long but it’s a good temperature with suitable storage.

Holidaying in new locations always creates an opportunity to discover new favourite restaurants and this holiday didn’t disappoint. A real find – Restaurant l’Ancolie run by husband and wife team with a serious collection of sheep adornments and treasures.

To avoid that guilt trip from over-eating Jacques and I rather virtuously decided to walk the 3 km to the restaurant, with the intention being to get a taxi back, but since the weather held out and we really had overdone it we enjoyed a leisurely walk back as well albeit with a brief stop at a little wooden shelter for some respite from the wind.